An Un-Announcement of My Carbon Workshop, Yosemite, Oct 2020

[Vaughn]

Although Yosemite National Park is open, as is the Ansel Adam Gallery, it has been decided to cancel all the fall workshops at the AA Gallery, including my carbon workshop in October. I will miss it, but I will not miss the opportunity to bring Covid-19 back to my home town afterwards. I will use that time wisely, as it is the beginning of a great light under the redwoods...and perhaps some fall backpacking if Redwood Creek has not risen yet (I'll not complain if it does -- we need the rain).

[jmdavis]

It's funny how photographers see light by seasons. There are days and times that I can expect a certain light, dependent on weather. Some of those days may be the only time if the year that a particular scene exists.

[Vaughn]

Also there different plants under the redwoods that have leaves that turn yellow over the fall -- first the Big Leaf Maples...mostly done or just finishing their peak by the first rains, then a slight break in the rain and the vine maples turn followed by the various berries and buckthorn. The use of a yellow filter allows one to play with the yellow of the leaves. And as winter comes, all the alders and berries have lost their leaves and the view opens up under the redwoods. I almost dread the first budding out of the alders...especially if I have not spent enough winter time under the Reds.

When the rains come, the colors and smells change, and the light pools under the openings in the canopy instead of shafting down. I just got back for a few days of backpacking with the 5x7 -- all in the redwoods. Loading up the Expert Drums tonight and will develop tomorrow. Even in summer I had a collection of weather -- woke up to mornings of sun, fog, and fog-drizzle that one might as well call rain.

Prairie Creek in the Fall of 1980 (4x5 enlarged to about 7x19 silver print) may not have used a yellow filter that long ago
Mill Creek in the Fall of ~2017 (8x10, contact, carbon print) with yellow filter

[Tin Can]

Wonderful descriptive words of a place and time I will never see

again

thank you

[Hugo Zhang]

Vaughn,

Beautiful images!

[Vaughn]

Vaughn,

Beautiful images!

Thanks -- hope I did not get your feet wet! :cool:

[Vaughn]

Winter can be a pretty cool time to photograph out of the redwoods, too.

Looking across the Merced River, Yosemite Valley one February day. Taking a page out of AA's playbook, I selenium toned the upper half of the 4x10 negative to snap up the forest up there. Carbon print

[Eric Woodbury]

Dang it Vaughn, your photos beg me to go back to Humboldt. I lived there a couple years and my girlfriend (now wife) was a ranger there. We sure miss it. It's nice to see a wide horizontal when you are surrounded by 'the tall trees'. Good work.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Wow what a bummer. I was so looking forward to teaching this again with you. Well it looks like my trip to the Redwoods on the way down to Yosemite will be extended for a much longer time.

[Vaughn]

Sounds like a plan...

[Vaughn]

We are scheduling the workshop for October 2021. Much will depend on our situation with Covid19 and the needs of social distancing. Right now I accept a max of 6 students, that may get reduced to four. The classroom/darkroom/dimroom can handle (at present social distancing guidelines) five masked people without the need of barriers (plex shields, etc).

Our workshop has two half-days of photographing w/ 8x10s (or smaller if students have one) to produce negatives to print with. One possibility is for Jim and I to split the group into two, and for the first two days students would get 1:2 instruction and would switch between field and dimroom work. Not too bad of a teacher:student ratio.

But that seems like a long time away -- and I just remembered that the announcement threads are not suppose to be 'bumped' so to speak...so I'll sign off.

[Jim Graves]

Ohhh ... I was all signed up for that one ... am going to miss it.

I was having qualms about it but was planning on sucking it up and going ... probably for the best.

Let me know when you and Jim are getting together and I'll try to make it up ... if there's room for another.

Just getting ready to pour some tissue this weekend to print next week. We'll see if i make it.

Jim in Sacramento